How many offer Plant Health Care/IPM as a service

[SouthSoundTree]

Sounds like "catastrofying" the situation. All basic threaded plumbing parts, iirc.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Not on a production level, but messing about here and there at home on a large buried tree.

This one picture is a customer's dogwood. This was a doctor's house where he just paid off his student loans and had been neglecting all yard work until now. Tree has anthracnose , drought stress, and compaction issues outside the ring. I used a1 gallon, 1/3 horse pancake compressor in addition to hand tools. Hand tools do the coarse work, and air very near the buttress roots, along with a whisk broom and trowel. $40/hour.
Buried a for and built a dry stone tree well.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

After rcx, root pruning, mulching, perennials and annuals, and lots of water.

A long time back the good
Doctor spent $50k on extensive landscape design, then had no money to implement.


Knocked down a buried for in the other ring. Dug it out, stripped bark with a mattock, and easily cut it above the original grade, then mounded soil over the top and mulched and planted.

Foliar spray x3 in the spring.

 

[matdand]

Not so. much about making a catastrophic situation , but more about getting a message across to someone who doesn't understand tree basics. If your tree is suffering, it will most likely die an earlier death, just like us humans.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

I just checked out that thread at treebuzz. Haven't been there in a long time, that place looks totally different. I don't care for the new look.

Interesting thread though. I've used both the Air Spade and the Air Knife. The Air Knife ran off of those 375 cfm compressors and it was like firing a 12 gauge shotgun. I would be interested in building a homemade one but like you say above, it's your ass if an employee gets hurt and not being an engineer, that's a good possibility with something homemade like that. Pieces flying off and unhooked hoses flying around wildly are not my idea of a good time.

Flying apart tools... Catastrofying

 

[treelooker]

Pressure washer works too but i like the air knife with the water attachment; less root damage, more soil movement.

 

[ValleyArborist]

Doesn't water make kind of a mess? How do you manage the cleanup?

 

[MasterBlaster]

I would think a hella mess!!!

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Soil depth at beginning

Tree condition in early June. When called about declining health.

 

[ValleyArborist]

That's deep. Pretty common unfortunately. Do you ever find that the newly exposed root flare, especially on thin barked trees, is now vulnerable to attacks by wood boring pests? I've seen this happen more often than not on Rcx projects where the flare was buried for a long time on maples.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

No. Not familiar. New to rcx. Thanks for the heads up, VA? What's your first name? You seem to be staying around and contributing. We'd like to get to know you. You mighta introduced yourself, elsewhere.

 

[MasterBlaster]

VA is Ryan.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Thanks, Ryan.

 

[ValleyArborist]

No problem, yep my names Ryan. I'm from Virginia originally. Worked in the Washington DC area for about 6 years or so, then in Pittsburgh and western PA for about 3. Last 6 months I've been working as a transmission utility forester in West Virginia. My fiancé is an animal science professor at West Va University. I do residential tree work up in PA on weekends and that is my true passion. Hoping to make it my full time career again in a year or two. I hate utility stuff but it is the only thing nearby. Biding my time

 

[treelooker]

That's deep. Pretty common unfortunately. Do you ever find that the newly exposed root flare, especially on thin barked trees, is now vulnerable to attacks by wood boring pests? I've seen this happen more often than not on Rcx projects where the flare was buried for a long time on maples.

Seen sunscald on maples but not bugs..yet.. Euc oil is a good repellent.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Never sold an RCX yet. Usually about the time they even consider it here, it is about time to remove and replace.

 

[802climber]

Know anything about the new Rainbow trunk injection systems? They sure do have some fancy marketing. And no plugs.

Sure. I've used both Quik-jet and Arborjet systems. The Arborjet has been mainly Tree-age injections for emerald ash borer, and I've also used it to inject Lepitect ( acephate) for obscure scale in oaks. The Quik-jet has been miticides, insecticides and fungicides on various species. Both use the Stinger injector along with tree plugs which are inserted into the root flare( amount varies based on dbh). The plugs have a rubber stopper prevents liquid from entering or exiting the hole once fitted. You use the supplied bit to drill the holes about an inch or so, then tap the plug into place. Place the stinger IVs into the plugs, pump up the pressure and release the valve, and the liquid starts flowing into the tree. Uptake is usually fast but is dependent on species, condition, size, and the weather. The quick jet is the same but you simply pull the trigger on the gun to give it a calibrated dose per injection site.

Pros: less mess, no need to spray, no motorized equipment, no huge bulk of chemicals, no mixing of chemicals. Good way to get product into tree and treatment can last several years.

Cons : plugs are expensive at a dollar each. Can be unsightly on high profile trees and on smaller trees you are limited to how many injections you can do cleanly in its lifetime. Severly stressed trees are not good candidates for this as uptake may not be as good. There can be lots of little pieces it break or lose. Rubber gaskets an o rings blow out and parts kits are PRICEY.

 

[ValleyArborist]

Funny you mention that.... I just got back from the Mac ISA meeting and saw this for the first time. I like the fact that there are no plugs.... I am looking into this further

 

[802climber]

Yeah, their systems seem awesome but expensive. This might be dumb, but can't some chemical leak back out with no plugs? They will be my first stop at the TCIA Expo in November.